Just an observation but with justification. Several pundits have already stated that the Willson TE pick was horrible at the 5th round and should have probably not been on any teams draft board. From the sounds of what limited related press there is, he shouldn't have even been given a shot as an undrafted free agent.

So considering that many of those same pundits have wrongly been so initially critical of the recent Seahawks drafts, that leads me to believe that once again, the braintrust in the Seahawks draft war room have found that hidden gem that will light up the NFL this season.

The way that everyone has discounted and ignored him I would be surprise if any teams out there will even commit any resources to cover this kid...

Regarding Willson, he and Ware are the two picks that are growing on me the most since draft day.

Willson didn't impress me much when I watched him at Rice, mainly because he has the look for a big receiver instead of a tight end, and blocks accordingly. I like my tight end prospects big, strong, reliable versatile, and beastly. Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a good example of my ideal TE. (ASJ is probably the most talented player UW has had since Reggie Williams, so maybe I'm biased). Watching Willson felt like watching Ed McCaffrey at TE, especially since Willson took something like ~70% of his snaps out of the slot.

That said, the measurables speak for themselves. 6'5", 250, 4.51. At either WR or TE, those are elite measurables. Normally when you see a guy "test" that well and fall into the late rounds, he's either new to football or shows himself to have the brain of a 6th grader in interviews. Willson interviews like a coach and displays obvious intelligence. That blew me away. He seems like the kind of guy that will know what things to work on and will grow quickly. It wouldn't shock me at all if he had a better career than his Rice teammate, Vance McDonald. In retrospect, I'd much rather gamble on Luke Willson than Nick Kasa or Chris Gragg.

Regarding Willson, he and Ware are the two picks that are growing on me the most since draft day.

Willson didn't impress me much when I watched him at Rice, mainly because he has the look for a big receiver instead of a tight end, and blocks accordingly. I like my tight end prospects big, strong, reliable versatile, and beastly. Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a good example of my ideal TE. (ASJ is probably the most talented player UW has had since Reggie Williams, so maybe I'm biased). Watching Willson felt like watching Ed McCaffrey at TE, especially since Willson took something like ~70% of his snaps out of the slot.

That said, the measurables speak for themselves. 6'5", 250, 4.51. At either WR or TE, those are elite measurables. Normally when you see a guy "test" that well and fall into the late rounds, he's either new to football or shows himself to have the brain of a 6th grader in interviews. Willson interviews like a coach and displays obvious intelligence. That blew me away. He seems like the kind of guy that will know what things to work on and will grow quickly. It wouldn't shock me at all if he had a better career than his Rice teammate, Vance McDonald. In retrospect, I'd much rather gamble on Luke Willson than Nick Kasa or Chris Gragg.

I thought the report on Willson was he is a better blocker than receiver?

Hasselbeck wrote:Matt Flynn should be our starter. Wilson is nothing more than a backup and will never amount to anything in this league.

Regarding Willson, he and Ware are the two picks that are growing on me the most since draft day.

Willson didn't impress me much when I watched him at Rice, mainly because he has the look for a big receiver instead of a tight end, and blocks accordingly. I like my tight end prospects big, strong, reliable versatile, and beastly. Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a good example of my ideal TE. (ASJ is probably the most talented player UW has had since Reggie Williams, so maybe I'm biased). Watching Willson felt like watching Ed McCaffrey at TE, especially since Willson took something like ~70% of his snaps out of the slot.

That said, the measurables speak for themselves. 6'5", 250, 4.51. At either WR or TE, those are elite measurables. Normally when you see a guy "test" that well and fall into the late rounds, he's either new to football or shows himself to have the brain of a 6th grader in interviews. Willson interviews like a coach and displays obvious intelligence. That blew me away. He seems like the kind of guy that will know what things to work on and will grow quickly. It wouldn't shock me at all if he had a better career than his Rice teammate, Vance McDonald. In retrospect, I'd much rather gamble on Luke Willson than Nick Kasa or Chris Gragg.

I thought the report on Willson was he is a better blocker than receiver?

That is what the sports writer that covered Rice said. I was surprised to hear that and haven't watched any film myself.

Regarding Willson, he and Ware are the two picks that are growing on me the most since draft day.

Willson didn't impress me much when I watched him at Rice, mainly because he has the look for a big receiver instead of a tight end, and blocks accordingly. I like my tight end prospects big, strong, reliable versatile, and beastly. Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a good example of my ideal TE. (ASJ is probably the most talented player UW has had since Reggie Williams, so maybe I'm biased). Watching Willson felt like watching Ed McCaffrey at TE, especially since Willson took something like ~70% of his snaps out of the slot.

That said, the measurables speak for themselves. 6'5", 250, 4.51. At either WR or TE, those are elite measurables. Normally when you see a guy "test" that well and fall into the late rounds, he's either new to football or shows himself to have the brain of a 6th grader in interviews. Willson interviews like a coach and displays obvious intelligence. That blew me away. He seems like the kind of guy that will know what things to work on and will grow quickly. It wouldn't shock me at all if he had a better career than his Rice teammate, Vance McDonald. In retrospect, I'd much rather gamble on Luke Willson than Nick Kasa or Chris Gragg.

It would probably cost us our 2nd to move up (enough to get him) in the 1st, but the addition of ASJ to our roster would be insane. Now that he has "off field issues", he will just be too good to pass up.

Speaking of off field issues, I don't know if we have to go all the way back to Reggie ...I'd say ASJ's our (U-dub's) best target since (wait for it.....) *Jerramy Stevens.

* I want to start tying ASJ to Stevens right away. Otherwise he's likely to be top 10 and that would cost us too damn much (to move up from 32). Please everyone, please join me in this campaign.

Regarding Willson, he and Ware are the two picks that are growing on me the most since draft day.

Willson didn't impress me much when I watched him at Rice, mainly because he has the look for a big receiver instead of a tight end, and blocks accordingly. I like my tight end prospects big, strong, reliable versatile, and beastly. Austin Seferian-Jenkins is a good example of my ideal TE. (ASJ is probably the most talented player UW has had since Reggie Williams, so maybe I'm biased). Watching Willson felt like watching Ed McCaffrey at TE, especially since Willson took something like ~70% of his snaps out of the slot.

That said, the measurables speak for themselves. 6'5", 250, 4.51. At either WR or TE, those are elite measurables. Normally when you see a guy "test" that well and fall into the late rounds, he's either new to football or shows himself to have the brain of a 6th grader in interviews. Willson interviews like a coach and displays obvious intelligence. That blew me away. He seems like the kind of guy that will know what things to work on and will grow quickly. It wouldn't shock me at all if he had a better career than his Rice teammate, Vance McDonald. In retrospect, I'd much rather gamble on Luke Willson than Nick Kasa or Chris Gragg.

"We like the fact that for us he was the second-best tester of all the tight ends in this draft," Schneider said. "He is 6-5 1/2, running 4.51 and great hands, can get down the field. He is quick off the ball, gets his shoulders around quick. He is a really interesting prospect for us."

Sounds like he will bring the greater speed, quickness and explosiveness, their looking for, to the TE roster.

I'm anticipating some measure of contribution to special teams from the #2 & #3 tight end roster spots. If Zack Miller can contribute, then surely contributions from the rest of the TE roster will be mandatory for 2013.

As much as I like the Willson pick, I think the prospects for 2nd year project Sean McGrath are also looking good for 2013.